


The Young Offenders Grade School

by ThePrettiestOfLights



Series: The Echo AU [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Violence, Teencast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7059346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrettiestOfLights/pseuds/ThePrettiestOfLights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kim Richards has an invisible twin. No one can see her, no one believes she exists. The invisible twin gets Kim into trouble regularly, and eventually, she gets sent to a school for young criminals, The Young Offenders Grade School, or YOGS.<br/>Kim soon realises there's something not right with this school, starting with the book Strife always seems to have with him...<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forget About You?

**Author's Note:**

> Teencast AU anyone?  
> Yes, I'm doing two stories at once, I have a lot of time on my hands ATM.

“What? I told you, it wasn’t me, it was Echo!” Kim cried, brushing her red-dyed hair out of her brown eyes. They never believed her, it wasn’t fair. Echo was always messing things up for her.

“Now Miss Richards, we’ve believed the stories about this ‘Echo’ girl for long enough, it’s time we stopped.” The Headmistress replied calmly. They were sitting across from each other at a brand new mahogany desk. So that's where the school funds were going. It was lunch time, and Kim was sure she would starve to death before she got out of the stuffy office. It was nearly the summer holidays, and she couldn’t wait to get outside and enjoy herself, free of the pressure of school and the bitter cold that forced her indoors during the winter.

“I swear to you, Miss Brewin, Echo is real. She looks exactly like me, except she’s taller, that’s why you think it’s me who does all this stuff. Honestly Miss Brewin, I will try and get rid of her by September. She doesn’t like summer, so I’m sure she’ll go away.” This made perfect sense to Kim. Echo was only really around when it was cold, or when Kim was upset. Echo got up to all sorts of mischief which got them into trouble more and more frequently and up until now the schools she’d been in had let her off, mostly. But this was apparently the last straw.

“I’m sorry Miss Richards, but you can’t stay in this school any longer. We have made arrangements for you to be transferred to a new school, and your parents are aware of this.” The headmistress continued talking, but Kim wasn’t listening They couldn’t kick her out, that wasn’t allowed! She liked it here, she had Chrissa and Katie at school with her, and Caff and Matt lived next door to her. If she had to move, she’d lose all four of them. It was already annoying that she went to an all girls school, and Caff and Matt had to go to a different school. Moving just wasn’t an option.

And what about Chrissa and Katie? Kim was their best friend, and she loved them both to pieces. She couldn’t just be expected to pack everything up and abandon them both!

“Do you understand, Miss Richards?” The headmistress asked. Kim nodded, and she was dismissed. Kim trudged out of the office and saw Chrissa and Katie leaning against a wall in the corridor. They had waited for her, and even brought her a sandwich.

"Kim! You’re alive! How’d it go?” Chrissa asked, handing Kim the sandwich and throwing an arm around her, her bright red hair matching Kim’s perfectly. Katie pushed herself off the wall and took Kim’s bag off of her so she didn’t have to carry it as well as the burden of something she hadn't done. Katie’s hair was also red, but she had dip-dyed it orange and yellow so it looked like it was on fire. Kim glanced around the corridor and noticed there was a lot of people hanging around. Kim shook her head and led them both out to where they normally sat at break and lunch times. A large oak tree, which provided them with shade during the summer months, with a red picnic bench below it. The girls had painted the bench that colour to match their hair, and that was the only misdeed they had actually done and never been caught for.

“So, what happened? Are they going to do anything about Echo?” Katie asked, sitting down on the old bench and swinging her legs under the table. Chrissa and Kim sat down across from her.

Kim took a bite of her sandwich. “They don’t even believe she exists anymore. It’s not fair, and do you know what they’re going to do? Move me on, again!” Kim said angrily. Katie gasped, and Chrissa looked horrified.

“Move you on? To where? There’s no other schools around here, except for… Oh god, they can’t send you to YOGS!” Chrissa exclaimed. She looked like she was about to cry.

“Uh, what the hell is ‘YOGS’? It sounds… bad?” Kim guessed. She’d been in Bristol for less than a year, and had very little idea about the city other than what she’d seen or been told.

“YOGS is the Young Offenders Grade School, where they send the really bad kids. Remember I told you about the Swedish guy who tried to kill one of the six formers?” Katie asked. Kim nodded as she took another bite of sandwich. “That’s where they sent him. I don’t know if he’s still there, but it’s bad, really bad.” They all sat in silence for a few minutes as Kim processed this information and ate her sandwich.

"How do you know so much about it?" Kim asked.

"Parents tell their kids horror stories about the place to make them behave. It works." Katie said, and Chrissa shuddered as she remembered some of the things her parents had told her.

“Isn’t that where they sent Rutherford and MacKay?” Chrissa asked. Kim was getting the feeling this was another one of the schools ‘legends’.

“Pool Boy and Owl Girl? Yeah, they’re still there. Hannah’s nice, and Nilesy is a laugh, so that’s a good thing I guess. Oh.” Katie noticed the confused look on Kim’s face. “Hannah and Nilesy are two kids who used to go here. They got sent to YOGS because Nilesy kept purposely flooding everything and Hannah has a habit of kidnapping small animals and birds, mainly baby owls.”

“Right, so this YOGS place, where is it? Is it near my house? I mean, I don’t wanna move house again, I like where I live. I like Matt and Caff.” Kim said. Other than the murderous Swede, and the 'horror stories' Katie and Chrissa had been told, it didn’t sound like a bad place.

“Oh, it’s only a couple of miles from here. You won’t have to move, and we can all stay friends.” Chrissa said, and Katie smiled.

“Don’t worry, we can still hang out at weekends and stuff, we’ll just be at different schools.” Katie said, trying her hardest to sound positive. “But, promise you won’t forget about us?”

“Forget about you? How could I forget about you, I dyed my hair for you two idiots!” Kim laughed, and the others joined in happily.


	2. The New Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim enters her new school, meets the students, and tries to take her mothers advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm uploading this from my phone at like midnight because sleep if for the weak, amirite?

"Honestly mum, I'll be fine." Kim promised. She was sitting in the passenger seat of her mums old car. She was wearing a red kimono with white leggings and black pumps, nothing fancy, but still reasonably smart. The school didn't have a uniform, so she just wore something she liked that fit the dress code. It was September now, but it was still rather warm for the time of year. The school before her was a single story red brick building with bars on the window and a ten foot fence with barbed wire on the top. Not overly inviting, and Kim hated starting a new school as it was. She's been allowed to stay at her old school until the summer holidays, and was allowed an extra week off at the start of the year while they sorted some paperwork out.  
"Okay dear, I'll pick you up unless you call me and tell me not to. Have fun, try and control Echo, make a few friends." Kim's mum smiled, and she couldn't help but smile back. Kim exited the car, slung her yellow and black batman backpack over her shoulder, and walked up to the front gate. She found it strange that there were no kids standing outside, but she was very early. Her dad had always told her that being early was a good way to start a new school. She took a deep breath and walked in through the front door. There was a teacher standing just inside the door, and they pounced on Kim straight away.  
"Hi, I'm Mr. Ruiz! You must be Kim Richards." He said. He was quite tall, but to Kim, everyone was tall.  
"Oh, yeah, hi. I'm a bit early, sorry." Kim got a very positive vibe from this man, which made her feel a bit less nervous.  
"Oh, that's fine. Early is good, as long as it's not very early. Now then, I was going to give you the tour, but I had one of the girls volunteer, which is lucky, because I don't really have the time. Follow me, and we'll see if she actually turned up." Mr. Ruiz started walking towards a green door to the left, which according to the sign on the door was a library. Mr. Ruiz opened the door and gestured her inside.  
The library had 6ft shelves, and there was a small pile of maps near the door so you could navigate the library without getting hopelessly lost. Kim took a quick peek at the maps, and the library seemed to go on forever, but it did have a comic book section. Kim pocketed a map so she could find them later. There was a large area with bean bags and sofas to the right of the door, and on one of the beanbags was a blonde haired girl with an owl hat, blue shirt and brown leggings. She had a blue bag covered in little cartoon owls. She was reading a book Kim didn't get a chance to see the cover of.  
"Ah, Miss Rutherford, you're here! This is Kim Richards, the new girl I told you about. I have to go and sort out Mr Hornby after yesterday's escape attempt, are you okay to stay with Hannah, Kim?" Mr Ruiz smiled, a hint of annoyance crossong his face at the mention of 'Mr Hornby'. Kim nodded. She suspected this was 'Owl Girl' that Katie and Chrissa had mentioned, so she felt like she could trust her, at least for now. Mr Ruiz left, and Hannah spoke.  
"So, you're Kim, huh?" Kim nodded.  
"You're shorter than I thought you would be." Hannah smirked, and Kim folded her arms.  
"Well excuse me, 'Owl Girl'. Katie said you were nice." She said, trying to sound intimidating despite her short stature.   
Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Katie Morrison told you about me?" Kim nodded again. "Well, you must be decent if she talks to you. Come on, we have a tour to do." Hannah walked out into the corridor and Kim followed closely behind her.  
"So, that was the library. You can take whatever book you like, but don't try to take them permanently, it doesn't work. Trust me, people have tried. Over there is art, that's ICT, there's the languages classroom, the science labs are down that corridor, and down here," Hannah walked further down the corridor to where it split off into two corridors, "English, Maths, Music are all down the left corridor, Geography, History, Drama are down there, there's toilets at the end of each corridor. The changing rooms for PE are to the right of the front door, so is the indoor break room. The yard is through that door there, so's the canteen." Hannah pointed to a red door in front of them. Kim nodded, taking a minute to register everything she'd been told.  
"Okay, do I get a timetable?" She asked.  
"You don't have one yet? Okay, we'll make you one. Follow me." Hannah started down the corridor, back towards the break rooms. Kim could see people arriving, and suddenly felt self conscious. She stayed as close as she could to Hannah, and a few people noticed her and smiled. One girl, a red head with ripped jeans, a black short sleeved t-shirt and rainbow converse, waved. Hannah waved back. Once the girl had turned away, Hannah started talking,  
"That's Zoey. She's pretty cool, I'm not really sure why she's here, as far as I can tell, she'd never do anything wrong." They continued walking in silence until they got to the break room.  
The break room was a large room with blue walls and lots of comfy-looking sofas. There was a computer in the corner, on a green desk and a swivel office chair. The chair was facing the computer. On one of the sofas was a short kid (only just taller than Kim) with a walrus hat and what looked like a lab coat. He looked up from his mobile when they entered.  
"Oh, uh, hi Hannah. What are you- Hey, who the hell are you?" The kid stared at Kim, who was hiding behind Hannah slightly.  
"This is Kim Richards, she transferred from the school I'm from." Hannah said. "Kim, this is Chris Trott. We call him Trott, or Trottimus, or Trout. Depends how much he's pissing us off." Kim smiled at Trott, but she didn't like the look of him.  
"I swear, I'm going to off the next person who calls me Trout. Do you know Katie?" He asked. Kim nodded. "How is she? I mean... Is she alright?"  
"Uh, yeah, I'm friends with her. She's fine, last time I saw her. Why?" Kim asked. Katie had never mentioned a Chris, and she wasn't sure how he would know her.  
"No reason. Have you seen Ross, I can't find him anywhere."  
"Mr Ruiz is grilling him over yesterday. You might not see him until later. Anyway, let's get you a timetable." Hannah strode over to the computer and spun the chair around. In it was a tall, green haired kid, who was dressed in some sort of suit.  
"Oh, Hannah, hi, didn't see you there. I'll just be going-" He tried to stand up, but Hannah pushed him down.  
"Nice to see you Smith, now give it back." Hannah was probably way shorter than this kid, but he still seemed completely terrified of her.  
"G-give what back? I-I don't have anything, why would I have anything?" He laughed nervously and glanced at Trott. Kim recognised the glance as a 'please help me' glance. Kim had received that same look numerous times from friends who got into trouble.  
"Very funny, give me the bracelet." Hannah growled. The kid whimpered, pulled a blue and white bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Thank you, now get lost." She stepped back and the kid leapt up bolted for the door, taking a green backpack with him.  
"Come on Trott, let's go find Ross." And they both left quickly.  
"Smith is a slimy bugger, don't go near him or his mates." Hannah said.  
"He looked really scared. What are you, the schools muscle?" Kim asked jokingly. Hannah wasn't a lot taller than Kim, but she was big, and had a glint in her blue eyes that made you want to avoid her.  
"Something like that." Hannah sat down at the computer and booted it up.  
"Okay, so all you have to do is put your name in and put the subjects in order of the one you want to the the most to the one you want to do the least. Then you press create, and it'll make you a timetable. You can change whatever, and then print it." Hannah got up out of the chair and let Kim sit in it. Kim ordered the subjects, putting Geography and ICT at the top and English and History as far down as they could go. She created her timetable and found she had quite a few free lessons. She added an extra Science and Art lesson and moved one of her Geography lessons before printing the timetable. She put it into her bag and stood up. She had Science first, but it said she had to stay in the break room until 9:30. She sat down on one of the sofas with Hannah, and they started talking about horror movies. More people wandered in, and Hannah called a black haired boy over.  
"Hello Hannah." The boy said in a thick Scottish accent. He was wearing a green tie and had square glasses perched on his nose.  
"So you know you lost your bracelet? I found it." Hannah handed him the blue and white bracelet she'd taken from Smith earlier. The boys face lit up as he slipped it onto his wrist.  
"Thanks Han! I thought I'd never get I back. Hey, who's this?" He asked, looking at Kim inquisitively. Kim noticed he looked slightly... feline.  
"Oh, right, Kim, this is Liam Mackay, but we call him Nilesy, Nilesy, this is Kim Richards. She's from our old school." Hannah moved over so Nilesy could sit next to her.  
"Oh, cool! Do they tell stories of Great Pirate Lomadia and Captain Nilesy?" Nilesy asked as he sat down. Hannah rolled her eyes slightly and sighed quietly.  
"Um, no, but I have heard stories about Owl Girl and Pool Boy. I assume you're Pool Boy." Kim tried not to laugh at the disappointment of his face.  
"I flood the school once-"  
"It was eight times." Hannah whispered to Kim.  
"-and I get nicknamed Pool Boy! Oh well, it's all in the past now."  
"That last time he flooded something was two weeks ago." Hannah whispered, and Kim giggled. They talked about Star Trek and more people started coming into the break room. Kim took note of them all.  
A brown haired boy with a purple scarf around his face, who looked quite odd, was talking to the girl Hannah called Zoey, who was chatting away happily. A short haired boy sat next to them, not talking, just nodding along with everything Zoey said. He had a dinosaur backpack at his feet, next to a purple one and a mushroom shaped one.  
The two boys who had been in the break room earlier had been joined by a black haired boy, and they kept glancing over at Hannah and whispering. The black haired boy looked very angry with the other two boys.  
A blonde boy in a lab coat with goggles on his head had come and sat on the floor in front of Hannah, but hadn't said anything. Why he didn't sit on a sofa was a mystery to Kim.  
A blonde and a brunette with glasses were sitting next to each other with a plant in front of them. They were writing about it on a sheet of paper. They both had green backpacks.  
A blonde guy who was wearing a red suit and writing something in a book was sitting alone. He looked up at the door every few minutes, and sighed. He didn't have a bag with him.  
Kim was watching the blonde with the book when Mr Ruiz came into the room and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.  
"Alright everyone! First things first, let's make sure everyone's here! Okay, Hannah?"  
"Here sir." Hannah said.  
"Nilesy?"  
"Yep." Said Nilesy casually.  
"Rythian?"  
"Here." Said the boy with the purple scarf in a Swedish accent. Kim remembered the Swedish guy who tried to kill a six former that Katie had mentioned, and tried to reason that it could be someone else.  
"Zoey?"  
"Here!" Said Zoey in a singsong voice  
"Tee?"  
The guy sitting next to Zoey waved his hand, but remained silent. Mr Ruiz smiled at him.  
"Trott, take off that stupid hat."  
"Here- what? Hannah gets to keep her hat! Why can't I?" Said Trott angrily.  
"You lost the right to wear that hat when you tried to sneak out of the school and let Mr. Hornby get caught." Said Mr Ruiz. The black haired boy, who Kim had gathered was the Mr Hornby Mr Ruiz had to go and deal with earlier, glared at Trott. There was a ripple of laughter, and Trott took off the hat grudgingly, mumbling about how unfair it was.  
"Smith?"  
"Hi." Said the green haired kid Hannah had terrified earlier.  
"Ross?"  
"You know I'm here." Said the black haired boy. The class laughed. Mr Ruiz rolled his eyes.  
"Duncan?"  
"Here Sir." Said the blonde boy sitting in front of Hannah.  
"Martyn?"  
"Here." Said the blonde boy with the plant.  
"Toby?"  
"Here." Said the brown haired boy with glasses quietly, so quietly that Mr Ruiz had to look up the make sure he was there. Suddenly, a brunette with a guitar and scars up his arms burst through the door and threw himself into the sofa next to the blonde boy with the book, who made an angry surprised noise.  
"Not late, not late until you finished the register, not late." They boy panted.  
"Parvis." Sighed Mr Ruiz  
"Yep, hi, see, not late, not late at all." Parvis said, putting his guitar down next to him.  
"Strife?"  
"Here Sir." Said the blonde next to Parvis, moving as far away from him as the sofa would allow.  
"And lastly, but not least, Kim."  
"Here Sir." Everyone looked over at Kim, some with faint recognition, and others with clueless but interested expressions.  
"Ah yes, we have a new student. Everyone, this is Kim Richards." Everyone nodded or said hello to her before turning back to Mr Ruiz. Kim was okay with disinterest. She'd had worse introductions in a new school.  
"Right, well, that's me done, anyone got anything to announce or say?" Martyn put his hand up.  
"Yes, Mr Littlewood?"  
"Uh, one of the store cupboard doors is... broken." He said, putting down his pen.  
"Right, did that have anything to do with you and Mr Cottrell? Or did it break itself?" Mr Ruiz asked. Toby glanced at Martyn, who looked guilty.  
"Well, I- you see-"  
"I broke it." The blonde boy in front of Hannah said, Duncan, Kim remembered his name being.  
"You did, Mr Jones? Why?" Asked Mr Ruiz.  
"I was testing an experiment, and I broke it accidently. I'm sorry." Duncan said sadly.  
"It's okay Duncan, at least you were honest. Now that that's cleared up, you can carry on with you're day! Enjoy yourselves!" Mr Ruiz left, and silence followed.  
"But, I did break the door. Why did you cover for me?" Martyn asked Duncan, clearly confused.  
Duncan looked equally confused. "I... I broke a store cupboard door with an experiment. The one by the physics lab."  
"We broke the one outside Geography. Oh god, this is a mess." Toby laughed.  
"Duncan, I told you not to break anymore doors, Dad will kill you if you go on report again." Hannah said in a mothering tone. Kim got a feeling that things like this happened frequently.  
"I've broken bigger things." Said Duncan with a shrug. After that, everyone started talking among themselves. Hannah introduced Kim to Duncan.  
"This is my half brother, Duncan. He blew up a school, which is why he's here."  
"Blew up a school? How?" Kim asked.  
Duncan shrugged, "I got bored. I only meant to blow up the science lab, but I made a miscalculation. No one else was in the school, so it's okay."  
Kim stared at him, puzzled. "That is the most casual answer to anything I have ever heard."  
Duncan shrugged again.  
"We've all done something wrong. It's why we're here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this!  
> There are far to many blonde people in this school, it's annoying ngl!  
> Okay, sleep time now (they lied)


	3. Don't You Trust Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim makes some new friends, and agrees to something... suspicious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to change the tags last time, oops!  
> This is why you don't upload at midnight people!

Kim didn't sit with Hannah at lunch. She had made friends with Zoey during Art, which Zoey was very good at, so she sat with her and Tee instead.

"So, why isn't Rythian here? Doesn't he eat?" Kim asked. She'd brought her lunch from home; her mother had made her favourite noodles.

"Oh, he doesn't like eating in front of people, so he usually eats in one of the classrooms. He doesn't like taking his scarf off in front of people either. I don't know why." She added before Kim could ask anymore questions. Zoey was eating mushroom stew.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Why are you two here then? If you don't mind me asking." Kim added quickly, not wanting to cause offence.

"Tee keeps trying to bite people he doesn't like. He bit a teacher, so they threw him in here." Tee showed his teeth; his canines looked razor sharp. Tee couldn't speak, so Zoey had to translate for him. Most of the people at the school seemed to understand what Tee was trying to say anyway. "As for me, I don't like to talk about it. Why are you here?" Zoey asked as Tee stopped showing his teeth and continued eating his steak.

"Oh, um this might sound really weird, but I have this twin called Echo that keeps doing bad stuff, but no one else believes she exists, so people blame the things she does on me. Yeah, that sounded weird," Kim looked down at her noodles.

"Oh, that must be annoying, but it's nice here. This 'Echo' might leave you alone." Zoey said with so much optimism it was hard not to smile.

"Yeah, I guess. What about everyone else here, what did they do? Do you know?" Kim continued her assault on the noodles.

"Oh yeah, everyone knows, except you, of course. Well, the Hats, that's Smith, Trott and Ross, were drug dealers, probably still are, Martyn and Toby broke into a lot of places and stole a lot of stuff, Parv used to attack people with knifes and even slice himself, but he doesn't anymore, don't worry. Strife locked an entire class in a store cupboard, he won't tell anyone why, and Rythian tried to stab a guy." Zoey said casually like she was reading a shopping list. "What did Echo do that landed you in here?"

"Oh, she stole a load of chemicals from the science lab. They caught her on CCTV. It's not fair." Kim mumbled the last part. Zoey's phone started ringing, and she walked off to answer it. Tee waited until she was gone before he handed Kim a note.

**"Look at Strife, without making it obvious you're looking. Trust me."**

Kim gave Tee a puzzled look, but moved slightly so she could see Strife properly. He was sitting across from Parvis, who was talking about something that required wild hand gestures. Strife was nodding every now and then and smiling, but seemed to be more interested in the book he'd been writing in when they were in the break room. Kim looked back at Tee, who had replaced the previous note with a new one.

**"Want to know what's in that book?"**

Kim definitely did. She didn't have many lessons with Strife, but every time she saw him he was either writing in or reading that book. Kim nodded, and Tee wrote another note.

**"So do I, but he never leaves it alone. I've tried to take it when he's not looking but it's** **impossible."**

 

"Why do you want to see what's in the book? I mean, what could possibly in it that's so important?" Kim asked, not sure whether to trust the mute teenager. Tee scribbled another note.

**"Strife hasn't been here long, but he knows stuff about everyone here. I think he writes everything down in that book, and only him and Parvis can see it."**

"But why would he trust Parvis? I mean, I've only just met the guy, and I know he's a wild mess." Kim remembered Parvis running in that morning, and how he'd practically leapt on Strife.

Tee raised an eyebrow, and smirked as he wrote another note.

**"It doesn't matter, I just need you to befriend Parvis, maybe help him out with some of his school work. Zoey was doing that for me, but she stopped suddenly. I don't know why."**

"Okay, befriend Parvis, find out what's in the book and get it if I can. What's in it for me?" Kim asked suspiciously. Tee had already written this note.

**"Knowledge of everyone here, even me. Don't you trust me?"**

"No, I don't trust you, but it sounds like fun. I'll do it." Kim said. Tee smiled, and she got a flash of his sharp teeth.


	4. I Call Her Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim makes friends with Parvis, and talks to a man who fell from a tree about Echo...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just quickly before we start, I'd just like to thank everyone for reading this, or any of the stuff I write. I've received some lovely comments over the past few days, and it means so much to me that people are enjoying this!  
> Again, thank you, and enjoy! <3

Befriending Parvis was a lot easier that Kim expected. She sat next to him in English, and helped him out with everything she could, which Parvis appreciated greatly. It turned out he was dyslexic too, so them working together was good for them both. The teacher didn't mind, as long as they were quiet and did all of their work. After a while, she found herself quite liking Parvis. He was a bit erratic, and always turned up late for _everything_ , but he was kind, funny and always knew how to make someone smile. While she was around Parvis, Kim didn't see Echo.

A month after her and Tee's original agreement, she asked him about the book, just casually, so Parvis hopefully wouldn't think anything of it.

"So, what's with the book Strife's always writing in?" She asked during a particularly boring English lesson. The music teacher, Mr Clarke, was covering the lesson, and was letting them do whatever the liked. For Kim and Parvis, that was talking about themselves.

"The book? Oh that's... just a thing... that happens... it's not important... I don't really know..." Parvis mumbled, fiddling with his pencil case. Parvis was a terrible liar.

"It must be important; Strife never let's go of it. And you do know, I've seen you reading it." The last part was a lie, but Parvis didn't know that.

"Well, it's just... a thing he writes. Stops him from locking people in cupboards, you know. Like me with Dota and guitar playing. Stops me from slicing people." He said, slicing at the table with his ruler. That was a reasonable answer, but Kim wasn't stupid. She knew it was another lie.

"Oh come on, Alex, we're friends, you can tell me." Kim said. As she did, she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She turned, and saw Echo, standing in the corner giggling. Kim hadn't seen Echo in the month she'd been at the school, and her sudden appearance terrified her. Kim froze up, staring at the corner where Echo was. She looked ill, like she had been recovering from a particularly bad bout of flu.

"Hey, hey Kim? You okay?" Parvis put his hand on her shoulder, and Kim jumped violently. "Whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, you just went a bit... strange. What's the matter, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Kim turned away from Echo. She might as well have seen a ghost, for all she knew about Echo was. "I-I- Parv, I might sound absolutely mad, and I might be mad, but... is there someone standing in the corner over there?" Kim indicated behind her.

"Uh, no. No, I can't see anything, can you?" Parvis didn't seem freaked out, or scared; he seemed curious.

"I... have this... thing... where I see a girl, who looks... exactly like me... I call her Echo... and she does stuff that gets blamed one me... because no one else can see her... and I'm scared. I've not seen her in over a month... what does she  _want_?" Kim whispered frantically.

"I don't know Kim, but you have to ignore her. She's not you, and... and you're not her. Just... think about something else, like... I don't know... did you say you have family in Malaysia? Parvis asked, and let Kim talk to him about Malaysia for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

 

She sat with Hannah, Duncan and Nilesy at lunch, and tried to distract herself by talking to Duncan about Science. Duncan was some sort of budding scientist, although Hannah had to supervise him almost 24/7 incase he tried to blow something up again. After a while, Kim excused herself and went outside. There was an old oak tree, not unlike the one she, Chrissa and Katie sat under at her old school. Kim sat down with her back against the tree and closed her eyes. After a few minutes of blissful silence, she heard rustling above her. She opened her eyes just as a figure in dark clothing fell from the tree.

"Ah- goddamnit" They said in a Swedish accent before muttering something in their native tongue. It was Rythian, who Kim had never really talked to before.

"Are you okay?" Kim asked, startled. Why was he up in the oak tree? Was he _allowed_ up in the oak tree? Surely not.

"No, not really." He said, sitting up. "Hello."

"Uh, hi. Why are you up in the tree?" Kim asked.

"Good question, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Rythian rubbed the back of his head and looked up. "Not so much now."

"Yeah." Kim said, not sire of what to make of him.

"You're Kim Richards, right?" Kim nodded. "Zoey talks about you a lot. Really, please make her stop, I'm sick of hearing about you. No offence." Rythian added.

"None taken, Zoey talks about you a lot as well. Zoey talks a lot about everyone, and everything, actually." Kim said, and Rythian laughed.

"Yeah, yeah she does."

"So, apparently you stabbed a guy." Kim said before she could stop herself.

"Zoey told you, I'm guessing. Yeah, that was fun. I mean... that's not how that was meant to sound." Rythian said awkwardly. "I'm not a sociopath, contrary to popular belief. Anyway, how are you finding the school?"

"Oh, it's good. I liked my old school more, but its nice here too. Echo doesn't like it, but who cares about her." Kim said. Why the hell couldn't she stop her _stupid mouth_?

Rythian cocked his head. "You have an Echo too?"

This took Kim by surprise. No one else she met had ever truly believed her about Echo, let alone asked about her or had their own. Now she thought about it, Zoey and Parvis seemed not only to believe her about Echo, but understand as well.

"Um, yeah. Do you have one?" She asked, looking around to make sure Echo wasn't anywhere in the yard. She wasn't.

"I don't, but Zoey does. Duncan has several, and a few ex-students have them. I don't know much about them, but Zoey's is a nice one, so are most of Duncan's. What's yours like?" Rythian asked. He sat against the tree next to Kim.

"She's the reason I'm here. She does shit, I get blamed. I hate her, I just want her to leave me alone." Kim said, kicking the ground with her heel. "Does... everyone know about the Echoes? I saw her in English, and Parv seemed to know about them, but he didn't say he did directly, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I don't think everyone knows. Duncan and Zoey do, obviously, Hannah does, she's lived with Duncan for years, me and Tee do as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Parvis and Strife do. They have the book after all." Rythian picked up a leaf and studied it carefully.

"Oh yeah, I've been trying to get the book, but it's not really working. it was Tee's idea." Kim said, not thinking anything of telling Rythian this. He was Tee's friend after all.

"Tee's idea? Ah, goddamnit." Rythian hissed as he dropped the leaf and stood up.

"What, what's the matter?" Asked Kim.

"Kim, do something for me. Don't try and read the book. Don't touch the book. Leave it be, and if you do read it, don't tell anyone about.  _Especially_ not Tee. You hear me?" Rythian sounded deadly serious.

"I hear you, but why? What's so bad, or important about the book?" Kim stood up as well, but Rythian was already walking away.

"Don't get involved in this, Kim Richards. It's not your fight." And with that, Rythian went back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, before I go, shameless self promo!  
> I wrote, edited, and uploaded a Fic called 'The Day My Luck Ran Out' between midnight and 3am last night after re-watching BlackRock, and I'd love some feedback about it!  
> Thank you very much for reading!


	5. What Book?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim takes Rythian's advice, at least for a while, and has a run in with Hat Films

Kim stayed friends with Parvis, but stopped trying to get to the book. Rythian’s warning had scared her, and she was avoiding Tee as much as possible. It seemed Rythian was avoiding him as well. One dreary Thursday maths lesson, she sat next to Strife. Parvis was ill (apparently), and he was the only other person with maths at the same time as her that day. They were talking idly about themselves. Strife was from America originally, but had moved over to England with his parents when he was young.  
"So what's Malaysia like? I've only ever been to England and America." Strife asked about half way through the lesson.  
"Oh, it's amazing. I've not been back in a while though. I miss it a lot" Kim said. She kept her answers short, as she was trying to figure out a particularly complicated equation.  
"I'd like to travel the world someday, maybe when I'm a rich businessman." Strife said. He wasn't doing any work at that moment as he was waiting for Kim to catch up so he could compare the answer to an equation he wasn't sure on.  
Kim raised an eyebrow. "You really thing you'll be rich someday?"  
"Yeah, or at least I hope so. Then me and Parvis can live in a big house where ever we like." He said, without quite realising what he'd implied.  
"You think you'll put up with him until then?" Kim asked, trying not to laugh.  
"What? Oh, yeah, I mean... He's my friend. I like him. As a friend. Yeah." Will nodded and tapped his book with his pen. Kim had pretty much forgotten about the book, but decided that asking about it wouldn't hurt.  
"Why do you have that book? You always seem to have it with you." Kim finished the equation she was doing and started checking it.  
"What book?" Strife stopped tapping his pen and feigned confusion.  
"You know what book." Kim replied.  
"Oh, that book? It's nothing interesting." Strife insisted.  
"Nothing interesting? Will, you guard that book with your life, don't tell me it's 'nothing interesting'." Kim clicked her pen, knowing Strife _hated_ clicky pens.  
"Well, for one thing, it's none of your business, and don't call me Will, it's Strife." Strife wouldn't speak to Kim for the rest of the lesson, or for the rest of the week. Even Parvis seemed distant. Kim left her English lesson alone the next Tuesday. She was texting Katie when she walked straight into Ross.  
"Oi, watch it!" He said angrily. Smith and Trott were walking just behind him. Trott had managed to convince Mr Ruiz to let him wear the hat again somehow, probably with an empty promise to behave.  
"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Kim admitted, embarrassed.  
"Well, maybe you should look where you're going. Who're you texting anyway?" Trott asked.  
"Katie Morrison." Kim said.  
"Hey, isn't that your girlfriend, Trotty?" Smith asked, shoving Trott on the shoulder.  
"At least I have a girlfriend, you bastard." Trott shoved him back.  
"I am a strong and independent man who doesn't need a woman, thank you very much." Smith said, shoving him again.  
"Alright ladies, you're both beautiful, you can stop hitting each other now." Said Ross as he rolled his eyes. Kim tried to walk past them but Smith blocked her.  
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.  
"Uh, I have a free lesson, so I'm going to the break room. Could you move?" Kim asked politely.  
"I don't think so. See, we need your help with something." Smith was over a foot taller than Kim, and was grinning like a maniac. He was absolutely terrifying.  
"My help? I don't really want to get involved with anything you're up too. Hannah told me to stay away from you, and I plan to stick to that. So move." Kim tried to keep her voice steady.  
"Who cares what Hannah says? Anyway, you don't have a choice." Smith took a step towards her.  
"You do; you're scared of her. Did you tell Ross about that? Or would you like me to? I said move." A sudden burst of confidence came over her. She was determined to get past this idiot, no matter what it took. Suddenly, Smith yelped and crashed to the ground. Ross and Trott yelled loudly and went to his aid. Just behind where Smith had been standing stood Echo. She looked even worse than the last time Kim saw her. Echo nodded and took off down the corridor. Kim stepped over the Hats and ran after her. She wanted answers. Even to just talk to her for a few minutes. She needed something. There was no one else in the corridor, so Kim felt it safe to shout to her.  
"Echo! Hey, Echo! Wait up!" Kim caught up to her and grabbed her arm, surprised she could actually touch her after so many years of believing she wasn’t real. Echo turned around.  
"Hello Kim." She said. Her voice was higher, more singsong than Kim's.  
"Echo, what the hell did you do?" Kim asked, shocked that Echo could talk.  
"I just hit him. He'll be fine, unfortunately." Echo smiled weakly.  
"Why did you help me, I thought you wanted to make my life hell." Kim asked, confused.  
"Everything I have ever done I did to get you here. That was my goal since the beginning. Alex Smith was an obstacle, so I removed him." Echo replied.  
"Okay, but why would you want to bring me here? What's here, other than a bunch of young criminals?" Kim had so many questions, but deemed this the most important.  
"I can't tell you that. I can't tell you anymore, other than trust no one, other than William Strife and Alex Parvis. They have the book. They can be trusted. Don't ask about the book. Don't read the book. Don't acknowledge the book. Just keep an eye on Toby and Zoey for me. They are just as lost as you. And find out something about Lewis Brindley and Simon Lane. That will help us work out what is going on in this school." Echo held Kim's hand between her own. Echo’s hands were cold, icy even.  
"But... I don't understand. Why should I trust you?" Kim felt confused and upset.  
"Because I am you, and you are me. Now go, find Strife and apologise." Echo patted Kim's hand gently, before turning around and walking out the door.  
Kim stood there for a minute, before turning and running to the break room as fast as her legs would allow her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm going to be away for the weekend, starting tomorrow, so there won't be anything of my main two fics, but there may be a few short things floating around in the mean time.  
> Sorry!


	6. Does Everyone Know Katie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim talks to Toby, and finds out some interesting things about an old friend...

Kim thought about what Echo had said for days. She stopped talking to pretty much everyone, except for Parvis and Strife who she apologised to almost immediately. She was sitting in the break room alone, reading a comic she’d gotten from the library, when Toby wondered in, also alone. He smiled shyly at Kim.  
"Hey Toby, how are you today?" Kim asked. Toby was quite shy, but Echo had told her to keep an eye on him, so she thought talking to him was a good idea.  
"I'm- I'm okay. How are you?" He sat down on a different sofa across the room.  
"I'm alright, thanks. Where's Martyn?" Kim had noticed Toby only ever hung out with Martyn, and they had all of their classes together.  
"Oh, he's gone on holiday with his parents. He won't be back until next week." Toby said quietly.  
"So, you don't have anyone to hang out with for a week, huh?" Toby shook his head sadly. "Well, I'll hang out with you whenever I can, if you like." Kim suggested, as kindly as she could.  
"Yeah, that'd be cool. Martyn's my only friend here, really. I have other friends, outside of school, I mean." Toby scratched his arm nervously. He didn't seem used to people being nice to him.  
"Yeah, I'm only really friends with Parv and Strife here, but I have Matt and Caff and Chrissa and Katie at home." Kim smiled as she thought about them all.  
"Katie? Like, Katie Morrison?" Toby asked.  
"Oh my god, does _everyone_ here know Katie?" Exclaimed Kim.  
"Uh, everyone whose been here more than a year. She used to go here, but she got moved to the public school." Toby said, like it was common knowledge.  
"What did she do?" Kim asked, shocked and intrigued.  
"Uh, I think she was an assistant in whatever the Hats did. She got half time because she technically didn't do anything serious. Why, didn't she tell you?" Toby asked.  
"No, no she didn't."

* * *

 

After school, Kim sat on her bed and sent Katie a text.  
KR: Why didn't you tell me you'd been to YOGS?  
KM: It didn't seem relevant.  
KR: Didn't seem relevant? I'm sorry, I thought we were friends?  
KM: We are! I just didn't want anyone to know, I don't want everyone thinking I'm a criminal or something.  
KR: It's okay  
KR: So who is Chris Trott? You never told me about him.  
KM: Chris? He's just a guy  
KR: A guy who claims to be your boyfriend  
KM: That too  
KR: How come you never told me and Chrissa about him?  
KM: I don't know, I thought you might think it was weird I was dating someone from YOGS  
KR: Well he's a total dick, so are his friends  
KM: Smith and Ross?  
KR: Yeah  
KM: I can't do anything about those two idiots, but I could probably ask Chris to lay off if you want.  
KR: Yeah that'd be good thanks  
KM: So how's Echo?  
KR: She actually rescued me from Smith a few days ago and told me something was going on, but she wouldn't say what  
KM: Have you tried asking Duncan? Is he still there?  
KR: Yeah, he’s still there. No, I haven’t asked.  
KM: You should, he's been there the longest I think  
KR: Okay, I will  
KR: Do you know Lewis Brindley or Simon Lane?  
KM: Lewis and Simon? They're ex-students. Why?  
KR: Echo told me to ask about them. What do you know about them?  
KM: Not a lot, they got let out not long after I arrived. No one’s heard from them in quite a while.  
KM: Sorry Kim, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?  
KR: Okay, love ya!  
KM: Love ya too!  
Kim lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It had those plastic glow-in-the-dark stars stuck on the ceiling. The last owner had left them there, and Kim really couldn’t be bothered to remove them. She thought they were kinda cool. Kim didn’t know how to feel. Her best friend had lied to her, her worst enemy had helped her, and she felt like she couldn’t trust anyone anymore, not even Matt and Caff, who weren’t even remotely involved with this stupid school. Kim heard her mum calling her downstairs for dinner, and sat up. Echo was sitting on her bedroom floor, playing with an old Batman action figure Kim had never seen before. Echo looked even worse than she did before, like she was slowly dying.  
“Echo, did you steal that?” Kim asked, not expecting a reply.  
“Well, it’s certainly not ours.” Echo giggled.   
“I asked Katie about Lewis Brindley and Simon Lane. She said they were ex-students, but didn’t say much more. She told me to talk to Duncan Jones.” Kim had already forgotten about dinner. She wasn't hungry anyway.  
“Duncan Jones? I’ve met a few of his Echoes. Two of them were total idiots, and one of them was totally insane. I liked that one, he was funny.” Echo smiled.  
“So he _does_ have Echoes, Rythian was right!” Kim exclaimed.  
“The Swedish guy? He’s a tricky one, I can’t read him very well. I think it’s the scarf. You should ask him why he wears it.” Echo put the action figure down on the floor.  
“Zoey told me not to.” Kim was a girl of her word, and rarely broke promises if she could help it.  
“How is Zoey by the way? And Toby? I told you to keep an eye on them both, didn't I?” Echo asked.  
“Oh yeah, I spoke to Toby today. That’s how I found out about Katie. He seems nice, but shy. I haven’t spoken to Zoey much, but she’s okay, as far as I know. Why did you want me to keep an eye on them?” Kim asked. She heard her mother call her again.  
“You’ll see. Now, go to dinner. Your parents will be worried about you.” Echo stood up.  
“What about you? Are… are you okay?” Kim asked cautiously. Echo's health had never been something that concerned Kim, but now she was worried.  
“Of course I’m okay, as long as you are. And you can keep the Batman figure, I won’t need it.” Echo said, and Kim’s dad called up the stairs, louder then her mother had. Kim walked out of her room and down the stairs, still thinking about Echo.  
She clearly wasn’t okay, so what on Earth was happening to Kim?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW'S THAT FOR A PLOT TWIST?


	7. As Real as the Echoes?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strife knows more than he lets on, and Kim talks to Duncan.

“Hey, Kim?” Strife asked during a Science lesson the next Thursday afternoon. They had teamed up for group projects because Strife was good at Science and Kim did what he told her to do, unless she thought what they were doing was wrong.  
“Yeah?” Kim was measuring out some sulphuric acid into beakers for an experiment on metals and their reactions to acids.  
“Why do you only ever talk to me and Parv? I thought you were friends with Zoey, Hannah and Duncan too.” Strife asked.  
“Oh, uh, that’s… ah... because… um…” Kim trailed off, trying to think of a reason that didn’t mention Echo. She came up with nothing. “I just… don't, I guess.”  
“Okay, take two, try and come up with a better excuse this time.” Strife joked.  
“Very funny. I was told by… a friend not to trust anyone here, only you and Parvis.” Kim hadn’t told Strife about Echo, for a number of reasons. She had made Parvis promise not to tell anyone, as well as Zoey, Rythian and Tee. Not that Tee could really tell anyone anyway. Kim wanted to keep Echo a secret until she spoke to Duncan. She hadn’t had a chance yet, between schoolwork, homework and hanging out with Katie, Chrissa, Matt and Caff.  
“That’s a good friend. Who are they, if you don’t mind me asking. Is it Katie Morrison?” Strife asked as he dropped some metals into the beakers of acid and watched them fizz (or not fizz, that’s the point of the experiment). They both took notes.  
“No, no, it’s not Katie. It’s someone you wouldn’t know, I’m sure.” Kim said, trying to be evasive without sounding evasive. It didn't work   
“Someone _I_ wouldn’t know? The mighty William Strife knows everything!” Strife said. “Unless of course this ‘friend’ is imaginary, or a voice inside your head. Then I wouldn’t know them.”  
“Well, I assure you, she’s real. Just as real as your book, or Parvis.” Kim said as the magnesium fizzed violently and dissolved.  
“As real as the Echoes?” Strife asked. Kim tried not to have a mental breakdown. He couldn’t know about the Echoes. He just couldn’t. That wasn't allowed  
“The what?” Kim tried to feign confusion, just as Strife had done a few weeks earlier.  
“The Echoes? Rythian told you about Zoey and Duncan’s, didn’t he?” He asked, writing down what the copper had done while in the acid (Not a lot, honestly), and looked up at her.  
“Oh, yeah, the Echoes. They’re strange, huh?” Kim said, avoiding Strife’s gaze.  
“I know you have one. An Echo, I mean. You can’t hide them for long, especially the bad ones.” Strife said quietly, so Zoey and Hannah couldn’t hear him.  
“You don’t have one, I know that much. Who told you about mine? Was it Parv? I bet it was fucking Parv.” Kim murmured angrily. She was going to hit whoever told Strife about Echo as hard as she could. She’d kept the Batman action figure with her since she’d last seen Echo, just incase she never came back.  
Strife narrowed his eyes. “Don’t talk about Parv like that. And no one told me, I spoke to her. She came to me.”  
“Spoke to her? That’s bullshit. People can’t even see her, let alone talk to her.” Kim snapped. Kim had spent her entire life dealing with Echo and the things she did. Only recently did _she_ start to talk to Echo herself. Strife had to be lying, he had to be messing with her. Parvis or Rythian or Zoey or _someone_ had to have told him.  
“I’m telling you the truth Kim. I spoke to her. She… You told her about the book, didn’t you?” Strife looked… upset? Annoyed? Distressed?  
“ _I’ve_ never even talked to her before a few weeks ago. She mentioned the book first. She whacked Smith over the head to save me before she actually spoke to me.” Kim had started clicking her pen again, purely to annoy him.  
“So _that’s_ what happened to Smith. Everyone was saying he fainted. Well, some people thought you had cursed Smith and knocked him out, but those people are fantasists.” Strife said. “She told me you were planning to talk to Duncan about her.”  
“Well, not specifically her. All of the Echoes. I want to find out where they come from, and what exactly they are.” Kim said, wishing for the first time in her life that Echo was here with her, telling her what to say or do.  
“Do it. And when you have, come and find me and Parv. Try and bring Echo if you can fond her. We need to tell you a story.” The bell rang as Strife finished his sentence. He packed his stuff up and left quickly. Kim stood for a moment before packing up her stuff and following Hannah towards the break room.

* * *

 

Duncan was already there, sitting alone with a small robot in front of him. He was controlling the robot with a handheld remote. Kim sat next to him.  
“Hey, what’s this?” asked Kim as Duncan directed the little robot so it rolled up to Kim’s feet.  
“His name is B-4RN-4B-U5, but I named him Barnabus. He’s my robotics project. Pretty cool, huh?” Duncan asked, and Kim nodded.  
“Can… can I ask you a personal question?” She asked nervously as Duncan directed Barnabus towards where Hannah was sitting.  
“Sure.” He replied, as Barnabus rolled behind Hannah’s bag.  
“How many Echoes do you have? Zoey only has one each, but Rythian said you had more.” Kim was careful how she worded her questions, as she didn’t want to say anything about Echo.  
“I have at least three, probably more. They’re all a little bit different, but I don’t see them much anymore. They really don’t like this school. I don’t think Hannah believes they exist, because she doesn’t have one of her own. Sometimes I think she’s jealous, because she doesn’t have anything special. She’s getting let out in two months, but I don’t think she wants to leave me.” Duncan made Barnabus slowly open Hannah’s bag. She didn’t notice.  
“Oh, so, do you know what the Echoes are?” Kim asked.  
“Give me a minute.” Duncan murmured as Barnabus pulled a mobile phone out of Hannah’s bag. Barnabus hurried back and handed Duncan the phone.  
"Thank you." Duncan said to the robot.  
“Is that your phone?” Asked Kim.  
“Yeah, Hannah took it off me earlier today. Anyway, you were asking about the Echoes? Yeah, of course I know what they are. One in every twenty people have at least one, whether they are a living twin or only the person can see them, like ours. A lot of people rarely see them, or ignore them, thinking they're their imagination. Some do very little, like mine, some do good, like Zoey’s, or some are there to fuck shit up.” Duncan had pocketed the phone and picked up Barnabus.  
“Mine is the last one, I think. So, the Echoes are like twins, right? Then why are some of them actual people, and some of them like ours?” Kim asked.  
“I don’t know. Sometimes the invisible ones make themselves visible and do stuff, sometimes they remain hidden forever. A lot of people don’t even realise they have them.” Duncan said.  
"How do you know so much about them?" Kim asked.  
Duncan shrugged. "Research."  
 “Oh, so, is there a way to get rid of them?” Kim asked, not sure why she asked that question.  
“If they become visible, they can be killed, and they die when the real one dies, but other than that, no.” Duncan said. Kim thought on this for a while.  
Could she really kill her own twin?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter may be a while, seeing as I haven't finished writing it yet.  
> Sorry!


	8. I Love Stories!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim talks to Parvis and Strife, and finds out something strange about her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another short one, but the story is coming close to it's end, so hopefully the next few will be longer.

Kim found Parvis and Strife the next day before first lesson.  
“Hey dudes.” She said, sitting down on the sofa next to Parvis. “What’s up?”  
“Did you speak to Duncan?” Strife asked. Straight to the point, as usual.  
“Yeah, he told me what he knows about the Echoes.” Kim put her bag down next to Parvis’.  
“What did he say?” They asked in unison.  
“He said Echoes are like twins, except they can decide if they are visible or not. They’re really common, but a lot of people rarely see them or don’t think anything of them.” She hadn’t seen Echo after she’d spoken to Duncan.  
“Is Echo with you? We want her to hear this story too.” Strife looked around. Kim looked too, just as Echo wandered in.  
“Are you guys talking about me? Because that’s rude, you know.” Echo said. Neither Strife or Parvis could see her, it seemed.  
Kim sighed. “Strife and Parvis want to tell you a story. They can’t see or hear you, so be nice, please.”  
“A story? I love stories!” Echo sat down on the floor and cocked her head to show she was listening.  
“She’s listening.” Kim confirmed.  
“Okay, so, how much do you know about Lewis Brindley and Simon Lane?” Strife asked.  
“They’re ex-students. No one’s seen them for years. That’s what Katie told me, anyway.” Kim said.  
“Yes and no. Yes, they are ex-students, but people who come to this school see them all the time. We don’t know where they’re hiding, but it’s nearby.” Parvis said, almost like it was rehearsed.  
“Lewis and Simon were the first people here when this place opened. They were both in for robbery, I think. I arrived a few months after them. They were up to something, we all knew that, but we weren’t sure what it was they were doing. We assumed it was illegal.” Parvis said, rubbing his arm.  
“They were right.” Said Strife. “I wasn’t here yet.” He added.  
“Yeah, well, they were doing… science. Bad science. That’s when I found out about the Echoes. The bad Echoes are the result of the science they’re doing, we think. They recruited Duncan the second he got here. Hannah, Ross and Tee too, according to Rythian. I’m not sure where Martyn stands, but I don’t think it’s good.” Parvis said as he glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. “We’re the other side of the fight. We’re trying to stop the evil shit they’re doing and get rid of as many of the bad Echoes as we can before they band together and fuck shit up.”  
“Who’s on your side then?” Kim asked, having counted only half of the people at the school.  
“Rythian, Nilesy, Smith and Trott are all on our side. Zoey and Toby haven’t decided yet, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be on our side too.” Strife replied, though he didn’t seem so sure.  
“Okay, so I guess we have to pick a side too.” Kim said thoughtfully.  
“No you don’t. You don’t have to be involved in this at all, if you don’t want to be. But you have an Echo, and I’m sure she’ll have an opinion.” Parvis smiled sadly.  
“Of course I have an opinion; I have worked my entire _fricking_ life to get to this point!” Echo exclaimed angrily, but Strife and Parvis still couldn’t hear her.  
“We’ll think about it; won’t we Echo?” Kim asked, looking over at her, but she wasn’t there. “Echo? Oh for god’s sake.”  
“Has she gone?” asked Parvis.  
“Yep, fantastic timing, as always.” Kim sighed. At that moment, the art teacher Mr Askew, entered the room. This was strange, as it was normally Mr Ruiz who came in to the break room in the morning and took the register. Everyone seemed just as confused as Kim was.  
“Uh, Mr Askew?” asked Duncan. “Where’s Mr Ruiz?”  
“Mr Ruiz is ill today, so I’m taking registration. He’ll be back by next week, I’m sure.” Mr Askew said before reading off the register. He called everyone by their first names, which felt wrong as most people went by their surnames or their nicknames.  
Kim spent the rest of the day trying to find Echo, but she wasn’t anywhere she could look. When Kim got home, she wasn’t there either. Kim’s parents had left her home alone while they did some shopping, so Kim was playing music as loud as she liked without disturbing the neighbours, and flipping through an old photo album she’d found while looking through some boxes they’d never unpacked.  
It didn’t have any pictures of Kim in it, as it was from before she was born. It showed her parents getting married, buying their first house, and things even further back than that. As Kim flipped through the book, she started to notice a faint figure standing behind her mother in some of the photos. At first, Kim thought it was a reflection, but after a year’s worth of photos, it started looking like a woman with black hair. The figure got clearer and clearer until Kim realised the figure looked exactly like her mother, smiling a wickedly evil smile, but if she looked closely, she could see her mother had different coloured eyes. She was an Echo.  
Kim flicked to a photo of her parents wedding day, the one that had a copy sitting on their mantle piece, and saw the figure wasn’t there. Kim looked into her mother’s eyes. They weren’t the same as they had been in the earlier photos. They were the same colour as the Echo in the earlier photos.  
It wasn’t her mother in the wedding photo. Not the original, at least. Her mother had been replaced, just before her wedding day.  
Kim was scared. Not because her mother was an Echo, no, not that. There was one thing that was running through her mind.  
What happened to her real mother?  
  



	9. Ma?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim confronts her Mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me uploading this doesn't mean this story is properly coming off hiatus. I just managed to write something short but important and decided you all deserved something.

Kim didn’t talk to her parents when they got home. She took the photo album and shut herself in her room as soon as they walked through the door. Echo was already sitting on her bed.  
“Hey Kim.” She said, but stopped when she saw how upset she was. “What’s the matter? What happened?”  
“Echo, can you sense other Echoes? Can you tell if someone’s an Echo, or if there’s an Echo nearby?” Kim asked, setting the photo album down on the bed.  
“Uh, sometimes? They smell different, and they’re always slightly different to the originals. For example, I’m taller than you. Why do you ask?” Echo picked up the photo album curiously.  
“I think our ma is an Echo.” Kim took the album back and started flicking through it, showing Echo examples and trying to explain why she thought what she thought. Echo stayed silent, but was nodding in agreement.  
“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, actually. I always thought we were genetic. Have you asked her about it? Ma, I mean.” Echo asked.  
“No, how would I go about asking that? ‘Hey ma, I was looking through this photo album I found and I _think_ you might have killed my real ma and replaced her? Am I right?’” Kim asked sarcastically.  
Echo shrugged. “Well, technically, the Echo _is_ our ma. The photo of the wedding is before we were born. Do you really think ma killed her twin?” Echo flipped a bit further through the photo album. “And, how did dad not notice? He must have realised her eyes had changed colour.”  
“I don’t know. I’m scared, Echo. I don’t know what to do, about any of this.” Kim felt like she was about to cry, but she didn’t give herself the luxury of tears. Now wasn’t the time.  
“Well, we have all weekend to figure out what to do about the school situation, and mum doesn’t know that we know about her. It’s fine, we’ll figure something out. We always do.” Echo patted Kim’s arm gently.  
Kim smiled. “So, you know Parvis was talking about the bad Echoes?” Kim asked, but Echo put her hand up to stop her before she could say anymore.  
“He’s wrong. The bad Echoes aren’t a result or side effect of the science Brindley and Lane are doing. They _are_ the science they are doing. They kidnap Echoes, experiment on them, and then lock them up. Sometimes they escape, like one of Duncan’s did, but are completely and utterly mad. People have been doing this sort of sick stuff for as long they’ve known about Echoes. That’s why I got you into that school. I need you to help stop it.” Echo sighed and closed the photo album.  
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Kim asked, confused.  
“Because I didn’t exactly know. I can’t go too far from where you are, it makes my head hurt and my vision blurry. I heard from other Echoes that something was going on in this school, when we were both still in infant school. I decided that day I would do everything I could to get you here. It took eleven, long years, but I did it. I got you in there, and now I need you to stop Brindley, Lane, and everyone who works with them. But first things first, what do we do about our ma?” Echo asked.  
“We confront her, after dad has gone to work tomorrow morning.” Kim suggested.  
“Yeah, that could work. Try and be subtle about it, though. But first, don’t you have Physics homework to do?” Echo asked.  
“Oh yeah.”

* * *

 

“Ma?” Kim asked, standing in the kitchen not far from her mother, the photo album hidden behind her back. Echo was leaning in the doorway.  
“Yes, darling?” She continued to prepare dinner, not turning to look at Kim.  
“Can I ask you something?” Kim sat down at the dining room table.  
“Of course you can. What’s the matter?” She still didn’t look at Kim.  
“You know Echo…” Kim began.  
“Your imaginary friend.” Kim’s ma said.  
“She’s not imaginary, Ma, she’s real.” Kim insisted.  
“Of course she is.” She said.  
“Well, she’s definitely real, ask Will or Alex-” Kim began  
“Will and Alex? Aren’t they your friends from school?” She asked.  
“Yeah, well, they’ve seen Echo. Well, at least Strife has. They say a lot of people have Echoes, including-” Kim was cut off again.  
“A lot of people have imaginary friends, Kim. Most people forget about them when they get to your age.” Kim’s ma said condescendingly.  
“Ma, I know you’re an Echo.” Kim gave up on the subtle approach. She heard Echo sigh loudly behind her and put her head in her hands. Kim’s ma put down the knife she was holding and sighed too, eerily similar to Echo.  
“Kim, what makes you think that?” She asked, finally turning to face her.  
Kim set the photo album down on the table and showed her what she’d found. There were a few minutes of silence afterwards, during which Echo gave up and left.  
“Wow, you’re becoming a good little detective, aren’t you?” Kim’s ma said.  
“I just accused you of killing your twin, and you say that?” Kim exclaimed.  
“I didn’t kill her, we just switched places. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad it did. That was years ago now, well before you and Echo were born.” She sighed.  
“Glad it happened? Why?” Kim asked. “Why would you be glad to take your twins life?”  
“Sometimes, it’s not the Echo that’s bad. It’s the original. And sometimes, they’re both as bad as each other.”


	10. Where Is Everyone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim is having second thoughts. It's a good thing she has Echo…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is near...

“I’m not going.” Kim said quietly, staring out onto the street below her bedroom window as she sat on the window sill. Echo stood next to her, looking off into the horizon, where the sun was setting.  
“You don’t have a choice, sister. If you don’t, something bad will happen at school, I can feel it.” Echo whispered, tearing her eyes away from the window. She’d gotten into the habit of calling Kim ‘sister’, which Kim found… disconcerting to say the least.  
“What, are your Spidey-senses tingling? I’m not going, I can’t go in. I don’t want to go back there ever again.” Kim watched someone jog past her window, the fading light not allowing her to make out any distinct features.  
“Why not? What’s changed?” Echo drummed her fingers on the sill gently.  
“Nothing has changed; I just don’t want to be involved in this anymore. Like Rythian said, this isn’t our fight. It never was, and as far as I’m concerned, it never will be.” Kim jumped off the window sill and flopped down onto her bed with a sigh.  
“Well- I-” Echo thought for a moment. “Do you remember that old treehouse? The one Matt’s dad built for him a few summers ago? The one Chrissa nearly fell out of and broke her neck?”  
“Yeah, of course I do. Why?” Kim asked suspiciously. They hadn’t been up to the forest where the treehouse was since the end of summer. Apparently Matt’s dad had built it to try and make Matt and Caff spend less time indoors and go outside more. It had worked, to the point where Matt and Caff were never out of the treehouse.  
“Because I have an idea. You don’t have to go into school, I will. You can go and hide in the treehouse, and I’ll make myself visible and go deal with the crap that’s going down in YOGS. How does that sound?” Echo asked optimistically. Kim, however, was feeling extremely pessimistic.  
“It won’t work. You can’t go that far away from me, you said it yourself. I’d have to be a lot closer than the treehouse for that plan to work.” Kim watched the plastic stars on her ceiling start to glow as the real ones showed themselves.  
“Okay, well, how about… the bike shed? Yeah, you can hide in the bike shed, I’ll go into the school and sort out the stuff that’s happening.” Echo pushed herself off the window sill and leaned against a nearby wall.  
“If it means I don’t have to go to school tomorrow, I’m in.” Kim sat up and shivered. It was November, and she wasn’t getting used to the cold temperatures.  
“By tomorrow evening, this will be finished. I promise you, sister.” Echo smiled.

* * *

Echo stood in front of the Young Offenders Grade School, wondering if her plan would work, or end in total disaster. Sure, she looked like Kim, but she didn’t really act like her, and she was a few inches taller. Kim was hidden in the bike shed with some comics, where hopefully no one would find her.  
“Screw it.” Echo whispered, and she pushed through the front doors.  
No one was in the main hall, so she walked into the break room. Zoey, who was sitting on one of the sofas, and Toby, who was standing near her, facing away from the door, were the only ones there.  
“Calm down, Toby. They’re probably just ill.” Zoey said gently.  
“Ill? What, all fifteen of them? I doubt it.” Toby exclaimed.  
“They’ll be here soon, I’m sure of it.” Zoey smiled. “Oh look, here’s Kim!”  
“Uh, hi. Where is everyone? I thought I was late.” Echo threw her backpack onto the nearest sofa.  
“You are late. No one has turned up, not even the teachers, and I’m scared. What if they went into the basement?” Toby said, looking to be on the verge of tears.  
“We have a basement? Why does no one tell me these things? We could have sorted this crap out months ago if people would just tell me stuff!” Echo folded her arms. She was fed up of people being cryptic or outright not telling Kim important pieces of information.  
“I don’t know, but yeah, we have a basement. We don’t know where the entrance is, though.” Zoey stood up, hoisting her mushroom backpack over her shoulder.  
“I know where it might be. Martyn said it was in one of the store cupboards, but he didn’t say specifically which one.” Toby said. “But there’s like, twenty, thirty store cupboards in this place, and we can’t break into all of them, it’ll take years.”  
“I think it’s in one of the science ones. I remember Lewis and Simon saying the basement door used to be in the science labs before it was sealed off for safety reasons.” Zoey looked out of the window quickly. “But there’s like, three store cupboards in the science labs, and we don’t know what were looking for.”  
“We’re probably looking for a door or maybe a trapdoor of some kind, and there’s three store cupboards, and three of us. Between us, how hard can it be?” Echo asked.  
“Well, it’s worth a shot, I guess.” Zoey said. “Come on, Toby, Kim. Let’s go find us some classmates.”  
A few minutes later, they were outside the first store cupboard door. Unfortunately, it was locked tight.  
“Goddamnit. Do either of you guys know where the keys to these doors are kept?” Asked Echo after she’d tried the door a few times.  
“The caretaker and science teachers have a set each, but I don’t know if they leave them or take them home. Maybe we could break it down?” Zoey suggested, so she and Echo started searching around for something to break the door open with.  
“Done!” Toby said proudly as he pulled the door open.  
“How the hell did you do that so quickly?” Asked Echo.  
“Me and Martyn have been breaking into places for a very long time, and this door isn’t exactly a vault.” Toby shrugged. “Do you want me to open the other two?”  
“Yeah, that’d be helpful.” Zoey said. “Kim, you search this one, shout if you find anything.” She started to walk towards the next store cupboards until she realised Toby wasn’t following her. Toby was staring at Echo. “Come on, Toby.”  
“I’ll be there in a minute, Zoey.” He said shortly.  
“Right, okay then.” Zoey glanced at Echo, shrugged, and walked off down the corridor. Toby continued to stare at Echo.  
“Are you… okay?” Echo asked nervously.  
“You’re taller than you were on Friday.” Toby folded his arms.  
“Uh…” Echo looked at her feet so Toby couldn’t look into her eyes and see she was lying. “Am I? I thought I stopped growing when I was like, twelve.” She joked.  
“No, you’re definitely taller, by at least three inches.” He said. “That sort of thing doesn’t happen over a weekend, Kim.”  
“Well, I don’t see how that’s relevant to us finding the others. Go on, help Zoey get the other doors open.” Echo said, and Toby narrowed his eyes before walking off without another word.  
Once he was out of earshot, Echo let out a small sigh of relief. The way Toby said Kim’s name made it obvious he knew, but he couldn’t. Strife and Parvis said he didn’t know all that much about what was happening in the school, and as far as Echo knew, he didn’t know about her. Echo decided it didn’t matter what he knew. He was a nice guy, and he probably wouldn’t go shouting about it to anyone else. Except Martyn, perhaps, if they found him.  
Echo pulled open the store cupboard door again, as it had swung closed during her and Toby’s conversation. The cupboard looked how Echo had expected it to look. There was barely enough space for one person. There were test tubes, beakers, Bunsen burners, and other science equipment on the shelves that lined three of the walls. There was definitely no room for a door to be opened. Echo couldn’t see where a trapdoor could be opened on the floor. She stamped her foot. It sounded completely solid.  
“Kim? Toby? I found something!” Zoey yelled from further down the corridor. Echo poked her head out the door into the corridor. Toby was walking up from the furthest door, meaning Zoey must be in the second. Echo quickly walked to where Zoey’s cupboard and looked inside. Zoey was standing in front of an old wardrobe, the boxes from which were scattered over the floor haphazardly. This store cupboard was much larger than the one Echo had been tasked with investigating. In the back of the wardrobe, was an old wooden door with a shiny silver doorknob and lock. Zoey was facing away from the door, smiling at Echo and Toby, who had come up behind her.  
Echo laughed. “Good job Zoey! Did you find anything, Toby?” She asked.  
“No, I got nothing. Do you think this leads down to the basement?” He asked, moving past Echo and Zoey to examine the door more closely.  
“It’s the best thing we’ve got at the moment, so we might as well open it up and see what we can see.” Zoey said. “Toby, can you get it open for us?”  
“Sure I can, give me a minute.” Toby said, before trying the door. He frowned. “Uh, Zoey? It’s not locked.”  
“What? Yes, it is. I tried it just before you both came in here, and it was definitely locked then!” Zoey exclaimed.  
“No, it is definitely open.” Toby pushed the door with one hand, and it opened easily. “See, open. Not locked.”  
“What? It was locked!” Zoey exclaimed angrily.  
Echo giggled. “Well, it doesn’t matter, let’s see where this thing goes.” She stepped up next to Toby and peered through the door. It was dark, but she could just make out some stairs going downwards. “There’s some stairs, I think. Do either of you have a torch? It’s too dark.”  
“There were some in the store cupboard I was looking in. I’ll go grab them.” Toby left the room and ran down the corridor.  
“That door was definitely locked.” Zoey murmured. “Are you alright, Kim?”  
“Uh, yeah, why wouldn’t I be. Are… you okay?” Echo asked nervously.  
“Oh, I’m A-Okay. You’re just acting strangely, that’s all.” Zoey shrugged.  
“Stranger than usual?” Echo joked, hoping to cover her fear up with humour.  
“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something up with you. Is it because none of the teachers have come in either? Because it’s freaking me out a little too.” Zoey said, rubbing her right arm.  
“Oh, yeah, that’s probably it. Is it a bank holiday? It would explain why there aren’t any teachers about.” Echo suggested, attempting to change the subject.  
“A bank holiday? In November? No, and the school wouldn’t be open at all, because the caretaker comes in every morning to unlock everything. The caretaker isn’t around either. I don’t know, I’ll guess we’ll find out when we get down those stairs.” Zoey finished with a shrug as Toby came back with three flashlights. He gave Echo and Zoey one each, keeping the third for himself.  
“Alright, let’s see what’s down these stairs.” Echo said, and the three off them stepped through the door and down the stairs.


	11. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is here, and it was never going to end well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Young Offenders Grade School is finally on it's last chapter!  
> Thank you for sticking with it!  
> Also, I used waaaay to many italics in this one.  
> I would apologise, but that would involve me being sorry.

The stairs went down a long way, further than Echo had originally thought, and her legs were starting to get tired. They went straight downwards, and the only light was from the store cupboard and the torches they had, so it was pretty much pitch black. Echo was in front, Zoey was barely a step behind her, and Toby was bringing up the rear. Zoey seemed terrified, shaking and muttering to herself. Toby was holding himself together, but refused to say anymore than was necessary. Echo wasn’t scared, determination was taking up too much room for fear.  
Suddenly, a loud bang came from the top of the stairs. The door had slammed closed. Zoey jumped out of her skin, and her torch crashed to the ground. It went out on impact. Toby managed to keep hold of his torch, but burst into tears. Echo was able to keep calm and picked up Zoey’s torch. Fortunately, it wasn’t broken. Zoey put an arm Toby and tried to calm him down.  
“Hey, it’s okay, it was probably just the wind.” Zoey said, although she didn’t seem sure of it herself. “There’s no one else up there, and even if there was, and there definitely isn’t, we’ll hear them coming down the stairs. Everything’s okay.”  
“I- I can’t- I can’t _do_ _this_!” Toby sobbed. “I- Don’t tell anyone this, but- I’m scared of the dark. So is Martyn. We have been for years.”   
“Toby, a lot of people are scared of the dark. Hell, _I_ used to be scared of the dark.” Echo laughed. “Trust me, there’s nothing to be afraid of as long as me and Zoey are with you. Right, Zoey?” Echo poked Zoey with her foot as she handed her the torch.  
“Oh, yeah, me and Kim will look after you. We promise.” Zoey turned her torch back on and smiled. Toby returned it weakly. Echo nodded and shined her torch down the stairs and saw they were nearly to another door. Echo walked down the last of the stairs and was about to open the door when Zoey stopped her.  
“ _KIM_!” She hissed, running down the stairs with Toby trailing behind her. “Rule number one, don’t open random doors unless you have someone with you.”  
“Yeah, _Kim_ , wait for us.” Toby said as he got to the bottom of the stairs. Echo felt uncomfortable at the mention of her twin’s name, especially the way Toby said it.  
“Well, do either of you want to open it?” Echo asked. Toby and Zoey shook their heads. “That’s what I thought.” Echo tried to open the door. “Why is every door in this damned building locked?” She cried.  
“Are you sure? Do you want me to try it for you?” Toby asked sarcastically. Zoey smacked him as hard as she could. “Hey, that hurt!”  
“It was meant to!”  
“No, it’s definitely locked this time. I’m going to kick it down. Stand back.” Echo took a step back and pushed Toby and Zoey with her.  
“Whoa, there’s no need for that. I can unlock it.” Toby insisted.  
“Nah, I feel like kicking it down.” Echo said. She kicked the door as hard as she could and it shuddered. She kicked it again with the same force and the door flew open. Through the door was a long corridor, with an open doorway at the end. The corridor had flickering exposed light bulbs and red brick walls.  
“Well, it worked.” Zoey peeked through the door cautiously.  
“It looks… ominous.” Echo whispered. Then she shrugged. “I guess we have to see what’s through that door.”  
“I guess we do.” Toby said. Zoey nodded.  
“You go first.” They all said at once. They stared at each other blankly.   
“Kim, you go first.” Toby said.  
“Yeah, you’re the strongest and bravest one of us.” Zoey said.  
“Ugh, _fine_. If I die, I’m going to haunt you so bad.” Echo said. She stepped through the door and realised the corridor was a lot shorter than it had looked from the doorway. She got to the end of the corridor with Zoey and Toby close behind her. They peeked through the door and saw their classmates standing in a large but low-roofed room. It had various strange machines lining the walls and scattered across the room. Half of the students, Strife, Parvis, Smith, Trott, and Rythian, were to the left of the door, and the other half, Hannah, Duncan, Ross, Martyn, Tee, and two people Echo didn’t recognise, were to the right of the door. Zoey ran to the left as soon as she saw Rythian.  
“Rythian!” She yelled as she hugged him. Rythian nearly fell over backwards in shock.  
“Zoey? What the hell are you doing here!” He asked. Echo realised the taller of the two she didn’t recognise had a pistol in his hand. He went to aim it at Zoey as she started running, but Hannah stopped him, and he lowered the gun to his side.   
“We came after you! What are you doing down here?” She asked.  
“Yes, Rythian. Why don’t you tell her what you stole from us?” Said the taller of the strangers.  
“We didn’t steal anything! It was _my_ book, I had every right to take it!” Parvis said angrily.   
“It isn’t your book, it’s our book. Our research, which we all spent months on!” The shorter of the strangers said angrily.   
“Does this research have anything to do with you torturing the Echoes? Because you need to stop doing that, it’s bad.” Echo said, alerting everyone that her and Toby were there.  
“Echoes? That’s an interesting name. We call them ‘Clones’. Wait, who the hell are you?” Asked the taller stranger.  
“Uh, I’m Kim, Kim Richards. I’ve been coming to this school since the start of September. I’m guessing you’re Lewis Brindley?” Echo gestured to the taller stranger. “And you’re Simon Lane?” She gestured to the shorter one. Martyn was standing just behind Hannah, and kept gesturing to Toby to come over to him. Toby just shook his head and stayed next to Echo.  
“Yeah, that’s about right. So, back to business. Give us the book.” Lewis held his pistol up again.  
“No.” Strife said firmly. He was holding the red book in one hand, and a silver lighter in the other. “You’re not getting it, and if you shoot any of us, I’ll burn it to a crisp. Now, let us leave.”   
“What if he shoots you? What are you going to do then?” Asked Duncan.  
“I’ll burn it.” Parvis said.  
“Well, it’s a stalemate. You burn it, I’ll shoot Parvis in the head. I shoot any one of you, you’ll burn the book. And then I’ll shoot you all and be done with it.” Lewis said.  
“Toby…” Martyn whispered, but Toby stuck next to Echo.  
“Okay, I’m not allowing you to shoot anyone. How about we just go back upstairs and forget this entire thing ever happened.” Echo suggested.  
“I second that motion.” Nilesy said.  
“Oh no, that can’t happen. We need that book.” Hannah said. “And you two need to pick a side.”  
“Or we could just remain neutral?” Echo tried.  
“I second that motion.” Nilesy repeated.  
“No, you have to choose.” Hannah said.  
“ _Toby_ …” Martyn said a little louder. Toby glanced at him before walking to the left. Lewis moved his arm to aim at Toby, but Martyn hit him.  
“Don’t you _dare_.” He hissed before sprinting over to Toby. Ross tried to grab him, but Martyn was too quick. Echo now stood alone by the door, and Martyn and Toby were behind Zoey.   
“Alright Kim, your turn.” Said Hannah, like it was a game.  
“No?” Echo said. “I don’t want to pick a side, mainly because I have no idea what’s going on.”  
“That book your friend Strife is threatening to burn is filled with all our research on the Clones, or Echoes, as you call them. Parvis decided to abandon the experiment and take the book with him. We’ve been trying to get it back for months now.” Simon said.  
“And we are trying to stop these fucks from torturing and killing hundreds of innocent people.” Smith said, glaring at Ross. Ross refused to make eye contact with him.  
“The Clones aren’t really people.” Duncan said.  
“That’s really rude.” Echo said before she could stop herself. “And I thought Parvis said he didn’t agree with the experiments.”  
“I said many things.” Said Parvis, and Strife rolled his eyes.  
“Whatever.” Duncan said. Echo glanced over to Zoey, and saw she was signing something to Tee. Tee was watching her hands intently, but wasn’t signing back. No one else had noticed, and Echo knew very little sign language, so she didn’t stare too long. The two sides continued arguing over the book, and Strife nearly sparked the lighter multiple times. After many threats and a lot of shouting, Tee started walking over to Zoey, who was standing near enough to Strife to make his plan possible. Tee looked back at Lewis and Simon quickly, who gave subtle nods. As he got to Zoey, Tee reached out and snatched the book from Strife’s hands before sprinting back to Lewis and Simon. Strife yelled and tried to grab him and the book, but Parvis pulled him back.  
“Foiled by a mute teenager! It seems you didn’t account for treachery.” Lewis cackled with glee, and Ross gave him a nervous look. Tee signed something to Zoey which Echo understood without translation.  
“Sorry.”  
“YOU TRAITOR!” Trott yelled angrily. Tee just shrugged. Zoey dropped her backpack onto the floor and started searching through it hurriedly.  
“You know, it’s a shame.” Parvis said.  
“What’s a shame?” Asked Lewis suspiciously.  
“Why don’t you open the book and find out.” Smith had figured it out before Echo, but it clicked a few seconds later.  
“Oh, yeah, you should definitely open the book, just to make sure.” Echo could barely stop herself from laughing. Hannah wrenched the book from Lewis’ hands and opened it.  
It was empty.  
It was completely blank.  
“IT’S EMPTY? WHAT HAVE YOU _DONE_?” Screamed Duncan to no one in particular.   
“There’s one thing you didn’t account for.” Rythian said. “Strife’s forward planning.”  
Ross was laughing. “I can’t believe you were fooled by _that_ trick!”  
Lewis glared at them all. “Where’s the real one.”  
“We can’t tell you that, that’d be too easy.” Toby said.  
“Also, most of us don’t know where it is.” Rythian pointed out.  
“Well then, I’ll just kill half of you and lock up the rest until you tell me where you’ve hidden it. I’ll start with the Clone.” Lewis aimed his pistol at Echo’s chest.  
“I knew it!” Toby shouted. “I knew you weren’t really Kim!”  
“Okay, you got me, I’m Echo. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to leave and find real Kim so she can deal with this, because I really don’t want to.” Echo started backing towards the door.  
“I don’t think so.” Lewis said, and he pulled the trigger.  
“NO!” A yell came from behind Echo, and someone jumped in front of her. A flash of red material and black hair flew passed Echo and took the bullet for her.  
It was Kim.  
“KIM!” Echo screamed as her twin collapsed to the floor. The bullet had hit her in the heart, killing her instantly. Echo collapsed to the ground next to her, tears streaming down her face. She held her dead sisters body, screaming;  
“YOU MURDERER!”  
Lewis faltered for a second, before raising his pistol towards Echo again. Another shot came, but not from Lewis. The bullet went clean through the side of his head, and he fell to the floor. Simon tried to grab his gun, but Ross snatched it up and threw it to the other side of the room before running to Smith and Trott. He hugged them and muttered a stream of apologies and curses. Echo wiped away her tears to see who had shot Lewis. Zoey was holding a pistol not unlike Lewis’, aimed at where Lewis had been seconds earlier.  
“I never told you guys why I’m in here, did I?” She asked, lowering her shaking arms. “Possession of a firearm.” She dropped the gun and burst into tears. Rythian hugged her close to his chest, promising her everything would be okay. Parvis started choking up too, and Strife put his arm around him.  
“Oh dear god…” He whispered  
Echo looked down at Kim, glad her red kimono disguised the blood seeping from her chest. Nilesy crouched down and put an arm around her. “I’m so sorry, Echo.” He closed Kim’s eyes. “There we go; she could be sleeping.”  
“She could be.” Echo knew what she had to do now. She had to become Kim, and pretend none of this had ever happened. They all had to pretend, because who would believe a group of teenaged criminals?  
Even if they did believe them, they’d never see Zoey again. She’d be locked away for life, no matter what they said to defend her.  
Hannah, Duncan and Simon had already legged it, leaving Lewis’ dead body to rot. No one cared. They could do what the liked, the rest of them hated all three of them for what they’d done to Kim, what they’d made Zoey do.  
The scars they’d left on them all.  
They’d carry on with their experiments, of course they would. They didn’t have the book, but would that really stop them?  
All they could do now, was pretend like little kids.  
Because that’s what they were.  
Kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I cried when writing this.  
> Don't judge me.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while I was on my holiday, because I could. I hope you enjoy it!


End file.
